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SWOSU (6-10) at USAO (13-4) Tuesday, March 3, 2:00 pm Chickasha, Okla. (Bill Smith Ballpark) Live Stats/Video Arkansas-Monticello (5-6, 2-4 GAC) at SWOSU (6-10, 4-5 GAC) Friday, March 6, 2:00 pm Saturday, March 7, 12:00 pm (DH) Live Stats | Watch Live

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball returns home this weekend and they remain in search of their first victory at the Athletic Complex as they host Arkansas-Monticello for a three-game GAC series
- The Bulldogs have won two straight league series after taking two-of-three games from Southern Arkansas last weekend in Magnolia
- SWOSU has won four of their last six games following a four-game losing skid, all games on their home field
- Arkansas-Monticello will be playing their first true road games of the season this weekend and they are 5-6 (2-4 GAC) on the year to date
- The Boll Weevils won the series between the teams 2-1 last season in Monticello and they handed the Bulldogs a 3-2 defeat in the opening round of the GAC Tournament last May
 
The Opponents
Arkansas-Monticello (5-6, 2-4 GAC)
- Enter the weekend with a 5-6 record, having lost five of their past seven games after starting the season 3-1 at the QuikTrip Division II Classic
- Have lost both of their previous GAC series, going 1-2 against Southern Nazarene and Northwestern Oklahoma State in home series
- Ranked near the bottom in the GAC for team batting, hitting .233 as a team with a .372 slugging percentage in 437 at-bats
- Pitching staff is ranked fifth in the league with a team ERA of 3.73 while holding opponents to a .225 batting average
- Corey Wood leads the team and ranks third in the GAC with a .412 batting average to go along with a league-leading .560 on-base percentage after drawing 11 walks
- Three UAM pitchers are in the top ten of the GAC for ERA with Austin Braddock (1.42), Ben Aldridge (1.50) and Zach McKnight (2.14) anchoring the staff
- Bronson Gillam is tied for second in the GAC with three home runs, which is more than SWOSU (2) has hit as a team this season
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (89-68, 4th season)
- In his fourth season leading the Bulldogs and his teams have earned a berth in the Great American Conference Tournament in each of the previous three seasons
- Has tutored 14 players who have earned All-GAC status, including four first-team selections, one All-Central Region honoree, one regional gold glove award winner and one MLB draftee
- Named GAC Coach of the Year in 2013 after leading the Bulldogs to a 31-16 record and a second place finish in the conference at 21-9
- Previously served as an assistant at SWOSU for six seasons under former Bulldog coaches Charles Teasley and Scott Selby
- Played collegiately at Kansas State following two seasons at Connors State playing on nationally-ranked junior college teams
 
Arkansas-Monticello: John Harvey (108-95, 5th season)
- Hired as the 11th head baseball coach in Arkansas-Monticello history prior to the 2011 season after six seasons as the head coach at Henderson State
- Has led the Boll Weevils to back-to-back 30-win seasons, including a NCAA Division II Central Regional appearance as part of a 36-17 season in 2014
- Including his time at Henderson State, he has won better than 250 career games with a .520 winning percentage and five 30-win seasons
- Four-year letterwinner at Lyon College, where he set nine school records on the diamond
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU has ascended into sixth place in the GAC standings and, with two straight series wins, the Bulldogs are now 4-5 in league play
- Arkansas-Monticello is tied with Southern Nazarene for eighth in the standings with Southern Nazarene at 2-4
- East Central (6-0) and Ouachita Baptist (4-0) are both atop the standings and the only remaining unbeaten teams in league play
- Henderson State and Southern Arkansas are tied for third at 4-2 while Southeastern sits just ahead of SWOSU by percentage points at 3-3
 
SWOSU Notes
- While he didn't get a decision on Friday, Jon Chidester had 13 strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work as the Bulldogs won Game 1, giving him a league-leading 34 strikeouts so far this season
- Taylor Weifenbach has made the most appearances, seven, of all SWOSU pitchers and he's holding opponents to a .202 batting average to rank among the top ten in the GAC
- Overall, SWOSU's pitching staff is ranked seventh in the league with a 4.16 team ERA and .253 opponents' batting average
- CJ Faddis had his 10-game streak of reaching base snapped in the series finale at Southern Arkansas while Bryan Holt carries a similar streak of 10 games into this weekend
- Faddis also had an 8-game hitting streak snapped, the longest such streak by a Bulldog this season
- Christian Perez leads the Bulldogs with six multi-hit games this season and his .333 batting average is tops on the team
- SWOSU ranks last in the GAC with just two home runs hit so far this season. Nolan Barrientos and Korbin Polston have the honors with one homer apiece to their credit
- Polston is hitting .241 for the year with a team-best 12 runs scored and nine RBI
- Faddis is ranked second in the GAC with six stolen bases in six attempts
- SWOSU's team batting avearge of .248 ranks eighth in the GAC, but the Bulldogs are second in the league with 78 runs scored this season
- Ethan Davis earned his second victory of the season in the series opener at Southern Arkansas and he's now 2-0 with a one save and a 0.90 ERA
- Dalton Daniels has drawn a team-high 10 walks and been hit by four pitches, giving him a .380 on-base percentage
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs are back at home next weekend for a three-game league series against Southern Nazarene